Ivo gazed outside through the kitchen window holding a teacup in his hand. The evening had already darkened, and the house was quiet, much too quiet. He didn't particularly enjoy the silence, not for this long anyway. It had been a week since Jami had left and Dima had been occupied with his studies, either locked up in his room or the library, mostly in the library during the previous days, so that he could concentrate. It was true that Ivo missed the company and perhaps too often he had interrupted Dima's reading in search of it.
Ivo eyed the kitchen. Dirty dishes were everywhere on the counter and the dishwasher was filled with the clean ones that he was simply too lazy to put into their places. The fruit bowl contained bananas that had turned brown and filled the air with their overly sweet scent. Jami would have chucked the said bananas into the bin by now. Even at the store, he always searched for those that were still a little green. Ivo, on the other hand, thought that bananas were supposed to be a little brown. But like Jami often reminded him, Ivo still wouldn't eat the brown bananas and then they just ended up having smelly fruits in the bowl, like now...
Ivo left the kitchen, not finding the energy to clean this time either. He walked into the living room and turned the TV on. The news told about a suicide bombing somewhere in the Middle East, tens of civilians had died and this made Ivo sigh deeply. It was the same depressing shit week after week.
He switched the channel and ended up watching how an overweight woman cried that she wasn't allowed to eat chocolate anymore. She moaned how she had to go jogging all the time and it was raining outside! - Some weight loss program, obviously. Ivo changed the channel once more, this time to some cooking program, and was almost about to call Jami out to watch it because for some reason he enjoyed watching these never-ending food-related programs with titles like Cook Me Dinner, Cook Dinner for my family, or with my family, food for singles. What to eat today? Four celebrities (that no one recognizes) cooking dinner, and so forth... Before Jami's name escaped his lips, Ivo, however, remembered that he was alone.
He had tried to tempt one of his friends to go out to a pub with him, but unfortunately, all of them seemed to be busy that Saturday. Ivo changed the channel once more. This time, he ended up on a channel where they interviewed an old couple. The pair sat there holding hands and talked about how they had first met in the early 50s at a local dance. As the couple exchanged looks with one another, it translated a deep love and appreciation that they held for each other. Ivo felt moved by watching them. It was, after all, pretty damn touching to be together for that long and still be in love.
He changed the channel again, some sort of program about singles attempting to find love. A middle-aged man walked alone in the corridors of a cruise ship and talked about how nice it would be to find someone to share his life with. The evenings were particularly lonesome, especially in the winter, when it was dark and depressing outside.
The man looked somewhat miserable and Ivo felt sudden anxiety when he pictured himself walking in the man's shoes fifteen years from now. When all of his single friends would have found a relationship, Dima would have gotten married, Misha and Joni also, and then they would have adopted a little girl from China or something... And then he would be alone. He would be that weird, slightly alcoholic uncle Ivo, who came to visit unexpectedly in inconvenient hours and ... Ivo shook his head, turned off the TV, and got up; this picture of that possible future for him was anything but desired.
He took his phone, looked through his contacts, and ended up staring at Jami's name and phone number connected to his picture on the screen. Ivo had to admit; he missed Jami. He had gotten so used to having him around and perhaps he had slipped into taking him for granted and... Ivo stopped to think about the things Jami had confronted him about, things that Joni and Misha had carefully criticized him about, or perhaps not even that carefully, especially Misha.
YOU ARE READING
So just pull the trigger.
Random-Sequel to Foolish games.- Love. Jealousy. Obsession. A past unwilling to release its hold. Joni and Misha have found happiness together, but the release of Joni's exboyfriend from prison draws closer... What happens when he gets out?
